Manufacture of buckles



(No Model.)

0-. R. KELSEY.

MANUFACTURE OF. BUGKLBS.

No. 316,790. Patented Apr. 28, 1885.

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1 Unirrnn rn'rns GEORGE E. KELSEY, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

MANUFACTURE OF BUCKLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,790, dated April 28, 11885.

'Appiimtioufiled January 2, 1385. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, GEORGE R. KnLsnY, of est Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new Improvements in the Manufacture of Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a perspective-view of the buckle complete; Fig. 2, the frame as formed preparatory to bending the ends; Fig. 8, a side view of the same,showing the commencement of the bend in broken lines; Fig. 4, a side view of the bend as made to receive the tonguebar; Fig. 5, the bend completely formed around the tongue-bar; Fig. 6, a side view of the frame, showing the usual method of manufacture; Fig. 7 the same illustrating the usual method of bending; Fig. 8, a longitudinal section through the dies which form the ends.

This invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of that class of buckles which are made from wire; and it consists of a frame and tongues, the tongues being formed on the end of the wire which makes the loop, the bend being of such a nature as to turn the tongues at right angles to theloop, and inside the ends of the loop the two ends of the wire framebent around the loop close to the tongues, and such as used for suspender and garment buckles, and commonly known as the Hartshorn buckle.

In the usual method of making this class of buckles the frame is bent into shape, leaving the two ends extending therefrom, as seen in Fig. 2, broken lines indicatingthe extending ends. These ends require to be reduced in thickness in order to make the bend to form the hinge, and this has been done by striking the ends between flat surfaces, reducing the thickness from each side, as seen in Fig. 6, leaving a thin flat projecting tongue, a, This striking of the two ends and flatteningit from both sides so hardens the metal that it is necessary to anneal it before the bend can be made in the end portion to encircle the tongue portion, as seen in Fig. 1. Then in many cases the surface of the metal will be broken at the shoulders or points where the flattening cominences, and very many frames are lost because of the separation of the flattened portion in the bending operation. Again, the annealing operation so softens the entire frame that it is very much weaker than it would be were it not for such annealing, consequent-1y very much larger wire must be employed to pro duce a buckle of the 'same strength than would be necessary were it not for this annealing operation. I11 making the bend in the usual construction the fiat portion'is struck to turn the extreme end up at right angles to the plane of the frame and carry thebent or U-shaped part backward, as seen in Fig. 7. Then the tongue portion is laid into the bend, and the ends of the frame turned down over the tongue portion. In this method of bending, the bend commences near the shoulders or weakest part of the frame, and many frames are broken because of this method of bending.

The object of my invention is to avoid the annealing and the frequentbreaks referred to; and it consists in striking the ends from one side only, leaving the other side in its round ed shape, and so as to preserve the natural surface on that side, and then making the bend from the extreme end toward the frame, as more fully hereinafter described. The frame is cut from wire of the required length bent to shape, as seen in Fig. 2, broken lines indicating the ends of the frame. The ends are re duced in dies such as seen in Fig. 8, A repre senting one die, in which cavitiesb b are made, corresponding in relative position to the two ends of the frame, these cavities being concave in transverse section, the other die, B, presenting acorrespondingfiat surface. The ends of the frame laid in the cavities b b, the flatfaced die brought forcibly thereon will flatten the end of the frame upon one side only, leaving the other convex in transverse section, as seen in Fig. 3, and in section representing the ends in Fig. 2. This leaves the rear or round ed side of the frame without any material displacement of the metal. Thus flattened, the ends are bent into shape, beginning from the extreme end, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 3, the end carried over toward the frame, as seen in Fig. 4.. Then the tongue is laid into the bent end of the frame, and the ends of the frame closed over the bar at of the tongue, as seen in Fig. 5. In this construction the hinge or knuckle of the frame presents a nicely- IOU rounded surface,and because the texture of the The herein-described improvement in manufacture of wire buckles, consisting in striking the ends of the frame fiat upon one side,.leaving the other rounded or convex in transverse section, then bending the ends from their extreme end toward the frame around the 20 tongue to form the hinge, substantially as described.

- GEO. R. KELSEY. Witnesses:

J OHN E. EARLE, Jos. G. EARLE.

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